Thursday, November 1st ~ Brian C. Wilson: John E. Fetzer and the Quest for the New Age
John E. Fetzer was a pioneer broadcaster who brought the first radio station to southwest Michigan in the late 1920s. An excellent businessman, Fetzer made millions and was listed in Forbes magazine as one of the 400 wealthiest people in the United States. However, the most interesting thing about Fetzer was his life-long spiritual search, which led him to an exploration of a variety of metaphysical religions culminating in the New Age. The result of his search was that Fetzer used his wealth to found the Kalamazoo-based Fetzer Institute and the Fetzer Memorial Trust to further his spiritual ideas.
Join us as author, Brian C. Wilson, discusses his book on John Fetzer. Brian is a Professor of Comparative Religion at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan. His areas of research and teaching include American religious history with an emphasis on new religious movements, metaphysical religions, and religion in the Midwest. Author of numerous books and articles, his previous book, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg and the Religion of Biologic Living, was awarded the 2015 National Silver Medal for Biography from the Independent Publishers Association and the 2015 State History Award from the Historical Society of Michigan.
Brian’s new book is titled John E. Fetzer and the Quest for the New Age. The Kalamazoo-based Fetzer (1901-1991) was a radio pioneer, media mogul, and long-time owner of the Detroit Tigers baseball team. Of his many pursuits, however, there is one that is not well known: his life-long spiritual search, which led him from traditional Christianity to an exploration of a variety of metaphysical religions culminating in the New Age. In many ways, the story of John Fetzer’s long spiritual search mirrors that of millions of Americans who sought new ways of thinking and being in the evolving metaphysical religions of the 20th century. By placing Fetzer’s spiritual development within the broader context of metaphysical religions in America, Wilson’s book demonstrates how typical was his search for an American of his time and place. This was especially true in the Midwest, which, despite conservative “heartland” myths to the contrary, was long a hotbed of metaphysical and alternative religious activity. Yet, Fetzer’s story is also important because of its distinctiveness, for, unlike the rank-and-file, he was a figure of wealth and social prominence who founded the Fetzer Institute and the Fetzer Memorial Trust, which continue to carry on his spiritual vision to this day.
To get Brian’s gift of a free download of the preface and first chapter of the book John E. Fetzer and the Quest for the New Age, click here.
To learn more about Brian’s work, please visit his website here: https://www.infinitepotential.com/
